Proud To Be An American

True Living Project

You must visit Sabrina Ward Harrison's website and watch the True Living Project "slideshow." It's completely moving.

Focus

I am trying to focus on love and peace and hope and progress. This day to day life I lead can be so uneventful, so frustrating, so nothing, so repetitive. It's easy to succumb to the 8:00 to 5:00 work schedule--to work, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. It's easy to become consumed by anger regarding the stupidest things and to fall into a person I don't necessarily want to be. I mean, it's not that I become this horrible person. That's not the case. But there are moments where anger swells within me. Times where I don't care. Days where I'm not productive in pursuing a greater life.

I need to shift to the good. Need to keep my head up, my heart open. I don't want all of this "noise" to get the best of me, to fill my head and take me over. It's important to shed all that weighs me down. To shake off the negative. To wash off daily the dirt of yesterday.

Each day is clean. A new beginning, an opportunity for rebirth, a chance to make some small difference in my life and in the lives of those around me. So I ask God to help me focus, to help me be present in place and time, and to work steadily with peace in my heart.

Love and peace. Peace and love.

Know your roots...

When I think about it, the root of all evil may indeed be hate, but the root of hate is misunderstanding. We're afraid of what we don't understand and when we're afraid we take dumb, mean, and sometimes inexcusable actions to protect ourselves from perceived threats. Over time that fear develops into hate and then hate itself, sadly, flourishes. So what happens is, we begin to hate people, places, and things we don't even know for no reason.

I think that ultimately all anyone really wants is to be understood. We want to be individuals, but we need the support of others. We need to know that others can relate to our life experiences. Understanding somehow validates us as human beings and tells us that we're not alone. Furthermore, where there is understanding there is love. And who doesn't want to be loved?

So here's the deal... Do not be quick to judge others because you are not perfect. Agree to disagree when you do not share the same point of view as another; agreeing to disagree is a concept that desperately needs to be revisited because we are taking far too many people and things far too seriously. Relax. Finally, be brave. Be brave and open up to the world and people around you. If we are brave and open, we may very well come to realize that there is nothing to be afraid of and therefore nothing to hate. If we are brave and open, we can begin to understand and begin to love.

“Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever
any of you has a complaint against someone else.
You must forgive one another just as the LORD has forgiven you.”
-Colossians 3:13-